Sugar And Spice
by TheWhistler
Summary: Chelsea's life on Sunny Island was bland, until a handsome young Gourmet moves in. As Chelsea struggles to understands her feelings for the culinary genius, a tragic loss leaves her heartbroken and confused. Chelsea/Pierre,Other Pairings.
1. Chapter 1

_**Summary: Chelsea's life on Sunny Island was pretty quiet, until a handsome young Gourmet moves in. As Chelsea struggles to understands her feelings for the culinary genius, a tragic loss leaves her heartbroken and confused. Soon, she'll come to realize that life is sugar and spice, and she must appreciate every sprinkle of it she gets.**_  
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It was such a beautiful spring day. The sun was shining with not a cloud in the sky, which after almost a whole week of rain was seemed like a blessing to Chelsea. She stood at the edge of her field, glaring down at the place where her crops should have been growing.

The darned rain had washed away most of the seeds she'd planted. She pouted, crossing her arms.

In her two years of being a farmer, growing crops had been her weakest point. Oh, her ranch was doing very well, but that was mostly due to her animals. Chelsea thought plants must have some sort of problem with her; it was a miracle that there was even any grass on her property.

She crouched down, taking a closer look at the soggy mess of land. Swirling her finger absentmindedly around in the mud, she decided that there was no way she'd be able to replace the seeds until the ground dried up. She stretched, standing back up, and then glanced at her watch.

6:30. She glanced over towards her barns and coops. The animals could wait just a little while to be tended to. She began to walk, enjoying the cool breeze as it touched across her faces, shifting the hair that had fallen out of her red bandanna's hold out of her face. She strolled down the bricked road that led out of her farm and into the ever-growing town.

Even after almost three years of living there, she still marveled at the changes that the island had gone through since she and Taro's family first landed there. Once abandoned and desolate, the island was now a beautiful community, with almost anything and any type of resident you could think of.

She glanced at Taro's house as she passed. Seeing that no one was outside yet, she assumed they were still enjoying breakfast.

I'll drop by later and check up on things, she thought. After a few more minutes of walking, her serene smile grew as she spotted her destination.

Gannon's house.

When she first met the mountain of a man, he was the last person she thought she would befriend. At first glance, he was intimidating and unfriendly. Then, however, Chelsea had actually gotten to know him and discovered that she couldn't have been more wrong about him. He was incredibly sweet, always greeting her with a smile and a compliment, and he was incredibly funny and easy to talk to. He had actually become one of her closest friends.

"Good morning, G!" She said, swinging the door open. Gannon was situated behind his desk, as she always counted on him to be. He grinned as Chelsea hopped up to her normal perch on his desk and sat Indian style facing him.

"Mornin' Chelsea." He chuckled, shaking his head. "Ya know, bet I'd get a lot more customers if you sat up there all day, knowin' they'd see such a pretty face."

"Aww, I would love to hang here all day, but you know I'm a hard working single woman. Animals to feed, crops to gr- er well, try to grow."

"More trouble?"

She pouted. "The rain washed all my seeds away."

"Don't pout, you'll get the hang of it eventually." Chelsea stared at him.

"Gannon it's been three years."

"...Buy more animals?" She laughed.

"Good plan! But my buildings are filled to the brim with animals." She tapped him on the nose. "I'm probably gonna be needing some expansions soon. Are you up for it?"

"Course I'm up for it!"

"Alright, we'll set something up for next week then."

They chatted for awhile longer, about the rain and the town and anything else, when Gannon first brought up the subject the would begin the change of Chelsea's quiet life.

"So, you met the new guy yet?" Chelsea tilted her head, frowning.

"New guy? The last 'new guy' I met was that weirdo that stalks Lanna, and that was months ago.."

"No, we got a new one yesterday."

"Oh! Really? Tell me about him."

"He's eh, very... wha's the word I'm lookin for?...Eccentric. Yeah."

"Eccentric?"

"Err, yeah. You'd have to meet 'im to know what I mean... He's some sort of food critic, the whole darn family is. They're pretty famous." Chelsea gasped.

"You don't mean he's a Gourmet!" Gannon snapped his fingers in recognition.

"That was the name."

Chelsea gagged. She had met a Gourmet once before, about a year ago when she went back to Mineral Town with Karen and Popuri to attend a festival. He was incredibly large, with a flat face and the largest most repulsive mouth she'd ever seen in her life. This wouldn't have bothered her, had be been nice; however, within the first ten minutes of meeting her, he stole the corn dog she been nibbling on, ATE the corn dog, and then insulted the corn dog while at the same time, insulting her character.

_"Urgh, this is absolutely ghastly! What kind of person would eat such slop! Bleuuuurgh!"_

And then he walked away, as if she had offended him.

She hadn't been back to Mineral Town since.

"Oh thats great. Juuust great." Chelsea made a point to get along with everyone on the island and, with the exception of Natalie, who Chelsea sometimes didn't see eye to eye with, she was good friends with most of the residents. However, one of her flaws was grudge holding, and she held a big one against that Gourmet guy.

She happened to love corn dogs, thank you very much.

"Don't worry, just cause yer not the best cook in the world doesn't mean he won't like ya." Chelsea looked highly affronted.

"If my cooking isn't so good, then why do you eat like five helpings of it every night?"

"Now, I didn't say tha-"

"Daddy! Chelsea!" Chelsea looked over her shoulder as the door slammed open. Chelsea chuckled as the bubbly blonde child bounced up to her, holding out her arms to be lifted onto the desk.

"Hey treasure." Gannon said once Chelsea had helped the girl settle in next to her. "Ya have fun with Charlie?" She nodded, blonde curls bouncing around her face. She turned to Chelsea, who tugged on one of the golden tussles.

"Chelsea, how long have you been here?" She asked, a tiny frown pulling at her lips. "You aren't about to leave are you?"

Chelsea gazed affectionatly at her. The first day Gannon introduced her to Eliza, and his daughter looked up at her with those big blue eyes and smiled that endearing smile, Chelsea was smitten. She'd always loved kids, but never really got the chance to be around them before she moved to the island. Now, she had Eliza, who she honestly thought of as a daughter. Of course, she never told this to Gannon or Eliza because she didn't know the situation about Eliza's real mother; Gannon never talked about it. She didn't want to insult any one. But she loved that little girl, and she also loved her father, platonically of course. They were the closest thing to a family she'd ever had.

"I'm afraid so, kiddo. I haven't fed the animals yet, and I'm probably gonna have to get Denny to take me fishing, since I won't be making any money off of crops anytime soon."

"Oh," Eliza said, sighing sadly. "You'll come back tonight though?" She asked, blinking those beautiful blue eyes at her. Chelsea chuckled.

"Of course! I'll be back in time to make dinner. You know I would never make you eat your father's cooking." She raised an eyebrow pointedly at Gannon.

"Hey! It's not that-oh, okay. It's that bad." Chelsea chuckled, and then glanced at her watch. 11:30. She sighed, hopping off the table.

"I've gotta go. The animals are probably already mad at me." She gave Eliza a quick hug and kiss on the forehead. "I'll be tonight, be thinking of what you wanna eat, kay?"She grabbed her backpack and made for the door.

"Chelsea." She turned.

"Yeah, G?"

"Watch out fer the scary Gourmet."


	2. Chapter 2

"Denny, you're the best," Chelsea stated as she pulled her full bag of freshly caught fish of his boat. "I really don't know what I'd do without you." Denny chuckled, stepping carefully out of the boat with his own bag thrown over his shoulder.

"I'm sure you'd do just fine Chels. You're pretty decent at fishing," he said as they began to trek up the beach towards his little wooden shack.

"Oh, I know that. But without you I'd have to fish from the docks, that's no fun. And I guess I would get bored without someone to talk to," she teased, bumping into him. He feigned a look of hurt.

"So you just use me for my boat? Oh, well. You did say you enjoy my company, so-"

"Your company? I was talking about the bird," She said reaching up to pet his feathered constant companion. "You're a pretty birdie, yes you are!" she cooed. She could have swore she saw the little bird blush.

"Ouch. You cut me, Chels. You cut me deep," Denny said, shifting all his fishing equipment over to one arm to put his free hand over his heart. "Here we are. Ugh, sometimes I wish my house was closer to the water, I'm out of breath," he said after he sat his stuff against the wall of the building. He bent down and put his hands on his knees, taking deep, dramatic breaths.

"It's cause you were talking so much," Chelsea said absentmindedly, surveying his house. She often worried about him living in the shack; it was in very poor condition. The walls were thin and the wood was beginnng to rot. The roof was weak and had already fallen through twice; luckily, Denny was out fishing at the time. And to complete the decrepit look, the entire building was leaning to the left. It looked as though the weakest bit of wind could blow it over without a problem. She shuddered at the thought of some kind of typhoon coming through the island,

"Den, why don't you get Gannon to upgrade your house?" she said, her eyebrows crinkling in worry. "He could give you something a little...sturdier?" Denny looked up at her, still in his 'I'm catching my breath' position. He seemed confused, althought she couldn't tell if he was pretending or not.

"Why? What's wrong with my house?" Chelsea blinked. Is he serious?

"Well, look at it! Its so unstable. If there was ever a storm or anything-"

"Do I sense worry?" He finally stood up straight and put his hands on his hips, looking frustratingly satisfied. She rolled her eyes.

"Of course I worry about you, idiot." She glanced over her shoulder, mainly to avoid looking at him and his stupid grin. The sun was just barely peeking over the sea, casting a pinkish tint over the beach. She ignored Denny, who was prattling off about how perfectly safe his house was, to admire the way the waves rolled up the shore and then retracted back into the sparkling sea. She'd never really took the time to just stop and look.

"Helloooo? Cheeellseeea?" She sighed at his interruption. Taking one last look at the sea, she decided that she would get up earlier one day to get her work done sooner. Then she would bring Eliza and Charlie, the merchants son, down to the beach for a picnic. She smiled delightedly just thinking about it; Eliza would be thrilled.

"Chels! You know I hate being ignored." Without turning around, she pictured Denny in her head, stomping his feet and pouting like a big three year old. She giggled; he really could be a child sometimes. Finally, she spun around to face him.

"I'm sorry, Denny. I was just thinking," she said, giving him her sweetest smile. She saw his agitation practically slide off his face. Glancing up at the darkening sky again, she stepped forward and gave him a quick hug. "I gotta go, Eliza and Gannon are probably trying to eat the kitchen table right now." When she tried to pull away from him, he pulled her back into a tighter hug and lifted her off the ground. "Denny!" she squealed, surprised. He sat her back down, grinning ear to ear.

"Sorry, couldn't help it. Go on now, go feed the Big and the Blonde," he said, turning her around and gently pushing her towards the path to town. Chelsea shook her head, smiling, and began to walk. When she was almost off of the beach area, she stopped and called back to Denny, "I'm gonna talk to G about fixing your house alright? Okay, thanks!"

"Chelsea! My house is fine!" But she had already ran off.

* * *

Chelsea was humming to herself as she stolled up the path to Gannon's house, wondering what she was going to cook for them. She was craving spaghetti, her personal favorite, but spaghetti just wasn't the same without mushrooms, which didn't grow in town until fall.

Lost in her thoughts of food, she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a twig break behind her. She leaped what was probably three feet into the air and emitted the highest pitched noise she'd ever made in her life. When she was safely back on the ground, she spun around to see what had been sneaking up on her. She was thoroughly surprised by what she saw.

A young man, just a little bit taller than herself, was standing a few feet behind her, looking sheepish and amused at the same time. An odd purple top hat sat atop bright blonde locks. He had a very young looking face, but the way he was standing with such an air of confidence made it obvious to her that he wasn't a child. Purple seemed to be his favorite color, as his overcoat and pants matched his hat, and looking closer, Chelsea noticed that even his eyes were a striking shade of purple. His attire seemed familar to her, but she couldn't remember where she had seen it before. He took a few steps closer to her, so that they where in comfortable conversation distance.

"Hello. I didn't mean to startle you," he said apologetically. Chelsea nodded, offering a friendly smile.

"Its fine. I usually don't scare that easily," she chuckled. She glanced over his strange attire again, wondering why it seemed so familiar to her. "Uh, have we met before?" He was quiet for a minute, studying her.

"Hmmm. No, I don't believe we have. I've just moved here, actually." It was then that she realized where she'd seen his clothing.

"_Urrrgh, this is absolutely ghastly!"_

No freaking way. He couldn't be.

"I am Pierre," he said, not noticing the look of disbelief on Chelsea's face and giving a slight bow. "I am a member of the prestigious Gourmet family, and-"

"You aren't repulsive!" she said before she could stop herself, sounding almost indignant. His disposition changed as soon as the words flew out of her mouth, as though someone had flipped a switch. The air of confidence he had that had made him seem so mature to her was gone, replaced with an timid unsureness that made him actually appear smaller. Even his hat seemed to droop a little.

"Err? Did you think that I would be?" he said, pressing his fingertips together nervously. Chelsea mentally smacked herself. She couldn't believe that she had said something so rude to someone she had just met. Still, she couldn't believe that this adorable young man could possibly be related to that rude, disgusting man from the Mineral Town festival.

"Ye-No! No, I didn't! I'm very sorry, sir, I didn't mean to say that," she said, speaking at a hundred miles an hour. It felt odd to her to call him sir when he looked so childish, standing there with his hands now clasped behind his back and a huge pout on his face, digging his boot into the ground. But she had already been incredibley rude to the poor stranger, she didn't want to make it worse.

They stood there in an awkward silence for what seemed like hours to Chelsea. Pierre was still staring at the ground, mauling it with his boot. Chelsea tried to think of something, anything, to say to him, just to make him stop pouting. He'd had such a lovely smile. She opened her mouth, hoping that the words would find their own way out. Suddenly, she heard something in the distance.

"CHELSEA!" Both she and Pierre looked up at the noise. She recognized the voice as Eliza's. "CHELSEA! I'M HUNGRY!" Chelsea couldn't help but giggle. The sound of Eliza's voice, along with her laughter, seemed to ease the awkwardness between them. Pierre had pulled his boot out of the dirt and, while his confidence wasn't completely showing like it had been when she first saw him, there was a small grin on his face.

"I guess I'm needed back home," she said, backing away from him towards Gannon's house. "It was really nice to meet you, Pierre. And I really am sorry..." He shook his head, and the way his blonde locks bounced reminded her a little of Eliza. She smiled softly at him.

"It's fine. Actually, it was kind of a compliment, wasn't it? A rather unconventional compliment, I suppose, but one nonetheless," he said, returning her smile. She chuckled at him, relieved that he wasn't angry with her.

"Unconventional is kind of my thing, actually," she said quietly. "Would you believe that I'm a rancher?" Those purple eyes widened.

"Oh? A rancher? You certainly don't loo-"

"CHELSEA!" They cringed at the shriek.

"Oh the poor thing. She acts like she's starving," Chelsea said, rolling her eyes. Pierre seemed to have brightened up tremendously.

"So you cook?" he asked excitedly.

"Oh, yes. If it weren't for me, the carpenter and his daughter would probably starve." Pierre chuckled. She raised her eyebrows in surprise; he had a very pleasant laugh.

"UGH CHELSEA! DAD'S GETTING WORRIED!" That wiped the grin off Chelsea's face. She didn't want Gannon to worry about her.

"I've got to go," she said, backing up once more. "I'm sure I'll see you around." And with a final smile, she took off toward's the carpenter's house.

The little Gourmet watched her as she ran off. He shook his head, still smiling. What an odd girl.


	3. Chapter 3

"You said what?" Gannon guffawed, little bits of chewed noodle flying out of his mouth as he laughed heartily. Chelsea and Eliza eyed the soggy specks of food with great disdain as they landed on the table between them. Eliza's eyebrows knitted in disgust and she puffed out her cheeks at her father, hoping he would get the point and shut his mouth without her saying any thing. It didn't work. He continued to laugh rather obnoxiously, spraying food every which way. Chelsea carefully moved her plate out of the line of fire.

"Daddy! Don't laugh with your mouth full! It's gross!" Eliza finally said, pursing her lips out to highlight her disgust. Gannon immediately closed his mouth, still chuckling as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Sorry, treasure. Didn' repulse ya, did I?" he asked, looking pointedly at Chelsea before bursting into another great fit of laughter. Chelsea rolled her eyes, although she couldn't help but smile. Gannon always knew how to cheer her up. He found humor in everything, and when something was funny, really funny, he didn't just chuckle, or giggle. He very literally burst into laughter, loud enough to make someone who wasn't used to his Gannonisms cover their ears and think dear lord, is there something wrong with him? Chelsea felt an unexplainable surge of affection for him as tears began to form in his black eyes and his great chest heaved in laughter. She shook her head, but allowed a little giggle to escape.

"Jeez G. Are you planning on swallowing any of your dinner?" Gannon placed both of his hands in front of him as if to say 'alright, alright'.

"Okay, I'm done. That just tickled me, is all." Eliza put her finger to her chin in thought and looked up towards the high wooden ceiling.

"I don't see what's so funny. Pierre's _not_ repulsive, he's actually really really cute, huh Chelsea?" she said, propping her elbows on the the table and resting her head in her small hands as she looked over at Chelsea, an odd glint in her big blue eyes. Chelsea, who had just shoved a fork full of noodles in her mouth, looked up and narrowed her eyes at the child. Why was she smiling like that? She chewed her food slowly, contemplating the question and the knowing look on Eliza's face. Finally, she swallowed her food and shrugged. What would be the point of answering dishonestly?

"Yeah, he's a pretty handsome guy, even if he dresses really odd. I like his eyes." Her eyes widened as she blurted out the last part; she definitely didn't mean to give Eliza that much information. She gave a nervous glance over to the girl, who looked extremely pleased. Chelsea figured it was just because she was glad she had agreed with her and didn't give her expression another thought. Gannon grunted.

"The guy's loopy, if ye asked me," he said gruffly, shoveling more noodles in his licked-clean bowl. "Tried to shake 'is hand when I met 'im, he freaked out." Chelsea raised her eyebrows in interested surprise. Thinking back to their meeting, she did note that Pierre had kept a comfortable distance from her. He must be one of those germophobes. She frowned; she would have to watch herself around him. She was a very touchy-feely person naturally, she didn't want to ruin her chances of making a new friend because she couldn't keep her hands to herself.

Eliza chewed her food thoughtfully. "Oh, well. It doesn't matter that he's a weirdo. Me and Charlie are just glad to have a new friend to play with." She tilted her head, smiling brightly. Chelsea frowned at her; she was talking about the young man as if he were a child. She was about to correct her when Gannon stood up, stretching.

"I'm stuffed. Chelsea, I'll clean all this up," he said, gesturing over the kitchen table. "You can go ahead an' help Eliza get ready for bed." He sat his massive hand on his daughters golden locks affectionately before collecting their plates. Chelsea hopped out of her chair and gestured for Eliza to follow her. Hand in hand they left Gannon to his cleaning and followed the hallway back to her room.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom and put my jammies on. Wait right here, kay?" Eliza instructed, pulling open a drawer of her white dresser and extracted her favorite pink nightgown. Chelsea yawned and plopped down in the plush pink cushioned chair next to the child's bed. She gave her a lazy wave.

"I'm not going anywhere, kiddo." After flashing her a last brilliant smile, Eliza ran out of the room. Chelsea settled deeper down into the cushion of the chair.

Eliza's room was quite the opposite of the rest of the house, just as Eliza herself was polar from her father. The walls of the large room were painted a light cream color, whereas the rest of the house was the color of the wood Gannon had built it with; he had told her that it would be a waste of time to paint over what already looked fine. Eliza's room was the only room that had any sort of decoration. Frilly pink and white curtains where draped across the window, and on the wall opposite to the window was a large scenic painting of a meadow with a group of rabbits sprinting from one side of the frame to another. Just being in the room calmed Chelsea down; the color scheme was very serene. She glanced over at the framed picture on the nightstand next to her and immediately began to smile.

It had been taken the first time her cow, Nappa, had won the cow festival. In the picture, Eliza was sitting on Nappa's back, grinning ear to ear. Gannon was standing between the cow and Chelsea with one arm around her shoulders and the other hand settled on the back of his neck. Chelsea chuckled, looking at the picture fondly. She was going to have to remember to ask Gannon to make her a copy of her own.

She had almost begun to drift off to sleep when she felt a weight climb into her lap. She opened one eye to find Eliza's nose just a few inches from her own. Chelsea sniffed absently and gave the young girl a smile. "Oh good, you brushed your teeth." Eliza rolled her eyes.

"Duh, I don't want my teeth to fall out. Here," she said, pushing a hair brush into Chelsea's hands and turning around to face away from her. She began to hum softly as she brushed out the girls blonde locks, gently pulling out the tangles. This had become a nightly thing for them, and Chelsea always looked forward to it. This was their girl time, and they would talk about everything, from Eliza's crush on Charlie, or as she put it, Charlie's crush on her, to the silly things Gannon may have done or said. She loved this time because neither she or, as far as she knew, Eliza had ever had a mother to do this kind of thing with. Chelsea knew how hard it was to grow up without a mother, and she hoped that maybe she was making it easier for Eliza by being there for her. Eliza had certainly made life better for her.

"Chelsea?"

"Hmm?"

"What's it like to be in love?" Chelsea grimaced, glad that Eliza was turned around so she couldn't see.

"I dunno, kiddo. I've never been in love," she answered honestly. She'd been in plenty of relationships, at least before she came to the island anyway. But she sucked at romantic relationships, for lack of better terms. Her longest relationship had lasted only six months before she'd broke it off. There hadn't been anything wrong with the guy. She just couldn't make herself care for him as more than a friend. Plus she had felt guilty for not having very much free time to spend with him, between college and orchestra practice...

"What? You better fall in love soon, you don't have much time left!" The young girl scolded.

"I'm only twenty-four!" She replied indignantly, pausing mid-brush. "I still have plenty of time for that junk." Eliza glanced back at Chelsea, studying her face.

"Hmm. I guess so." She turned back around. "Don't you like any of the guys on the island?" she asked quietly.

"Of course. I like Denny, and Elliot's really sweet, Vaughn can be kinda scary sometimes but I-" Eliza smacked her hand to her forehead in frustration.

"Noo, Chelsea. I mean like like!" Chelsea giggled at the childish term.

"Eww, no. I couldn't imagine dating any of them." The blonde was quiet for a second.

"Well, what about someone who's not one of them?" She opened her mouth, about to question the girl about her meaning when there was a soft knock at the door.

"Can I come in?" Gannon's gruff voice came from the other side of the wooden door. Eliza hopped from Chelsea's lap over to her bed and burrowed under the covers.

"Come in, daddy!" As Gannon stepped in the room, Chelsea popped up from the chair and gave Eliza a quick kiss on the forehead.

"Good night. kiddo," she said, smoothing the bright locks down. The child smiled up at her, sleepiness now evident in her half closed eyes.

"Night Chelsea." She backed out of the room, patting Gannon's arm as she reached the doorway. As she was about to exit into the hallway, she couldn't help but glance over her shoulder. Gannon was sitting on the edge of Eliza's bed, one large hand placed on her cheek in affection. He was looking at his daughter with such adoration that Chelsea felt a lump form in the back of her throat. How can anyone think negatively of this man? She wasn't unaware of the stares he got from tourists, and truthfully it pissed her off. How can they judge him just based on his looks?

She watched silently, leaning on the frame of the door. Eliza popped out from under the covers and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I love you daddy."

"Love you too, treasure."

Chelsea's vision got blurry as her eyes filled with tears. She backed out of the room, wiping furiously at her eyes with the back of her hand. Once she was outside, she plopped down on one of the stacks of lumber next to the house and looked up the clear night sky, enjoying the feeling of the cool night wind against her wet cheeks. Where in the world had that come from? Chelsea was not a crier. She sat there for awhile, lost in thought, when she heard the door creak open.

"Chelsea?" It was Gannon. She wiped at her face again, trying to get rid of any evidence that she had been crying.

"I'm over here G," she called, keeping her gaze on the ground at her feet as she heard her friend's heavy footsteps getting closer to her. Finally, his black work boots were in her visage. She felt his hand gently cup around her chin and lift her gaze up to his. His eyes widened in concern.

"Chelsea, what's the matter?" He took a seat next to her on the lumber. She took a deep breath, drumming her fingers on her knees nervously. Oh goddess. She wasn't good at talking about things like this.

"Oh. Um, I was just thinking about my dad." Gannon raised his eyebrows in surprise. Chelsea had hardly ever talked about her life before she came to the island. She turned to face him.

"He was nothing like you," she said, grimacing at the tremble in her voice. "G, you're such a good father. No, not just a father. You're a good person, the best I know." A tear worked its way down her face and landed on her clasped hands. Next thing she knew she was pulled into a bear hug.

"Never thought such a beautiful women would think so highly of me," he chuckled. Chelsea was immediately calmed by the way his chest vibrated as he spoke. "You remind me a bit of 'Liza's mother, 'cept yer a great deal nicer," he whispered. She was amazed by the statement. Gannon had refused to ever talk about Eliza's mom before. They both sat there in a comfortable silence, Gannon wishing Chelsea would say something more about her father, Chelsea wishing to hear more about his child's mother. She just couldn't bring herself to talk more about her strict father; it was too painful. He must have felt the same way, as he didn't speak either.

Soon Chelsea felt herself nodding off. She stood up, stretching, and Gannon followed her lead. "Oh my gosh, I think it's passed our bedtime G." He chuckled.

"I think yer right. Are you gonna be alrigh' walkin' home? You look like yer about to fall right over." She waved his worries off.

"Nah, I'm fine." She gave him another quick hug. "I'll see you bright and early, okey doke?"

"I'm sure you will," he chuckled as she began to walk back down the path that led to her farm. She let out an enormous yawn. Sleep was going to come easily tonight.


	4. Chapter 4

"Chelsea, over here!" Chelsea looked in the direction of the voice and smiled when she saw Lanna and Julia seated at a table towards the back off Duke's Diner.

"Hey ladies," she chirped, plopping down next to Lanna.

"Morning," both of the blondes greeted.

"It's been awhile since we've had a girl's day, huh?" Julia grinned excitedly.

"Ugh, it's been way too long," Lanna groaned in agreement. Chelsea quirked an eyebrow at her friend's exaggeration.

"A week is way too long?"

"Yeah, and we would have got together sooner if you weren't so busy with Denny," Julia said, saying his name in a sing-song voice and winking. Lanna wasn't phased.

"Please, Denny and me are friends." Julia suddenly looked very concerned and reached across the table to feel her forehead.

"Oh, darlin', you...you feel like you're in DENIAL," she drawled, chuckling as the darker blond knocked her hand away and looked to Chelsea for assistance.

"Chels, you're friends with both me and Denny, please tell our ditzy friend that we're not like that." Chelsea took her sweet time chewing the large amount of chocolate chip pancake she had wedged in her mouth as she thought of how to answer. Of course, she knew Denny and Lanna were totally infatuated with each other; it would be obvious to anyone who spent more than two seconds with the two. Chelsea had wondered why Lanna always denied it so visciously. Denny, on the other hand, frequently gushed to her about his feelings for the blond on the basis that she 'crossed her heart' not to tell her anything he said.

She swallowed and gave a noncommital shrug. "You guys are definitely friends." Friends that were totally in love. Lanna smirked, obviously placated.

"Thank you very much, you gorgeous thing, you," she turned back to Julia, who still looked unconvinced. "And you really have no room to talk about denial. You wouldn't recognize your feelings for Elliot if they walked in butt naked and shook their danglies in your face." Julia gasped in horror.

"Why would Juju's feelings have danglies?" Chelsea giggled, but she couldn't be heard over Julia's embarrassed babblings. The young brunette sighed contentedly and continued to eat her pancakes while her friends continued to tease each other. A day off really was overdue for her; she had been putting nearly everything she had into her work on the farm, determined to be successful. While her efforts were starting to pay off, she was becoming increasingly stressed, so when Lanna marched into her house the previous night and declared that it was time for another girl's day out, she could have cried tears of joy. Gannon had had no problem with looking after her farm for one day, saying that she deserved to go have fun.

"What kind of dress are you going to get while we're in the city, Chel? I'm not sure how fancy to go..." Julia asked, poking at her eggs thoughtfully. Chelsea blinked.

"Huh?" What did she need to buy a dress for? Lanna rolled her eyes.

"Well it's a Gourmet event, of course it's formal, you can't go in like, a sun dress or whatever. But don't worry, I'll help you girls pick out something perfect."

"What are you talking about? What event?" Chelsea asked, her eyes crinkling in confusion. Her two companions stared oddly at her for a moment.

"What do you mean, 'what event'? Haven't you checked your mail lately?" Lanna asked in a scolding tone. Chelsea raised her eyes thoughtfully towards the ceiling before sighing ashamedly.

"No, I've forgotten the past few days." The two blonds shook their heads, exasperated.

"If your head wasn't attached..." Julia said worriedly, but almost instantly, she brightened back up. "But Pierre Gourmet sent out a letter to the whole town a few days ago, inviting everyone to a huge fancy dinner tomorrow evening!" Chelsea's eyebrows raised towards her hairline.

"Oh?" She was a little surprised at the sudden mention of the Gourmet; she hadn't seen him since they met a week earlier.

"Isn't it exciting?" Lana squealed. "I wonder what he's like? I mean I've seen him a few times, he lives really close to my house. He hasn't come out much though."

"I haven't even seen him," Julia pouted. "What's he look like?" Chelsea absently opened her mouth to answer, but Lanna beat her to it."

"Well, he's a little short for a guy. He has blond hair, and he's always wearing this weird purple top hat and-"

"He has purple eyes," Chelsea added without thinking. Lanna and Julia stared at her, surprised.

"You've met him?" They inquired at the same time, leaning towards their friend, suddenly becoming a lot more interested. Chelsea inwardly cringed as she felt her cheeks warm up a little.

"Um yeah, about a week ago, while I was walking home." They just leaned even closer, curiosity glowing in their eyes.

"Well?"

"What's he like?"

Chelsea rolled her eyes, but smiled. These girls took the art of gossiping very seriously.

"We didn't really talk that much...but he was nice. He likes to keep his distance though, Gannon said he freaked out when he tried to shake his hand. I think he must be a germaphobe, or something," she said, shrugging. The blonds looked at each other and oohed.

"That's interesting...oh! Speak of the devil," Lanna said. The three women's heads swerved to face the door as the chime sounded. Pierre strolled in looking rather enthusiastic. He hopped on one of the stools at the bar, and he and Duke began to converse. Pierre was very animated, gesturing with his hands to accent his words. Chelse felt her lips twitch into a smile; he really was like a big kid.

"I wonder what they're talking about," Lanna pouted, cupping her hands around her ears as if it would amplify their voices.

"Food, probably," Chelsea chuckled. She pried her eyes away from the purple clad man and glanced down at her watch; seeing the time, she clapped her hands together. "We better get going, if we miss the boat I'm going to cry." The women stood up, each throwing some bills on the table. The scraping of their chairs as they pushed them back must have been particularly loud, for Pierre turned away from Duke and looked towards their table. His purple eyes flicked over the two blonds and came to rest on Chelsea, who looked up at him at that same moment. Chelsea, a little embarrassed that she had been caught staring, smiled politely. He returned the gesture as she turned to follow her friends, who exchanged glances, having witnessed the little exchange.

* * *

"So...what was with that little staring contest?" Julia asked, leaning back against the railings of the boat. Chelsea blinked. It took her a moment to figure out what she was talking about; it had been quite awhile since they had left the diner. She rolled her eyes, turning around to rest her elbows on the railing.

"If you're talking about me smiling at Pierre, I don't know why you're reading so far into it. We smiled at each other, it's called being friendly," she said. Lanna snorted.

"Please, that look you gave each other was intense. You were having eye sex!" she said, poking Chelsea in the stomach accusingly. The brunette gaped.

"What the hell, Lanna. You're such a pervert," she grumbled, but she couldn't help smiling a little. "Really now, eye sex? What does that even mean?"

"It means just what you think it means, darlin'. Bowchickabowwow," Julia drawled comically. A burst of giggles escaped Chelsea's lips as she hid her face behind her hands.

"What is wrong with you two?" she pouted after sliding her hands off her face. "You've never teased me like this before about a guy."

"Because," Lanna shrugged, "there hasn't been a guy to tease you about until now. I know how you are with the men of the Island, you're friends and you don't think about bonking any of them." Chelsea turned red.

"Lanna! Please!" Lanna opened her mouth to press her point, but Julia clapped her hand over it before she could begin again.

"What she means," the less vulgar blond clarified,"is that none of the men are right for you, romantically." Chelsea raised an eyebrow, wondering where they were going with this.

"Yeah, and?" Lanna finally managed to wrestle the hand away from her face.

"But now there's Pierre. And you two would be so adorable together," she cooed, squeezing Chelsea's cheeks as Julia nodded in agreement.

"Oww, would you stop it, please?" She swatted Lanna's hands away. "And thats very presumptuous of you to say, as we've established that none of us know Pierre,"she said, rubbing her sore cheeks.

"But-" both of her friends began to argue, but Chelsea cut them off.

"Oh, look, the ship's docking!" she cried with genuine excitement. She clasped Lanna's and Julia's hands with her own and began to pull them towards the exiting ramp, although her efforts were unnecesarry; the other two women were just as eager to get off the boat as she was.

* * *

Chelsea studied herself in the long mirror hanging on her door. She smoothed a wrinkle from her dress before giving a playful twirl and curtseying to herself. She was getting more and more excited with each passing moment.

While doing her work around the farm, she was uncharacteristically impatient to finish as she was looking forward to getting ready; she didn't get many opportunities to dress up these days. It had taken her awhile to decide what to do with her hair; after pulling her bandana out, she decided that just wearing it straight would be too plain. Opening up the cabinet under her sink, she sifted through all the what nots until she found the curling iron, still in the packaging, that she had once received as a gift. She smiled as she plugged it in, glad that she was finally getting a chance to use it. After she was satisfied with her loose ringlets, she put the iron away and stepped back to admire her work.

She didn't look half bad.

While looking in the mirror, a few loud knocks sounded from the front door.

"And there are my dates," she hummed as she skipped to open it. Behind the door was Gannon, who wasn't dressed any different than usual, and Eliza. The little girl was wearing a powder blue dress with lace around both the collar and bottom, and her big blonde curls were pulled into a bun, with two stray pieces hanging down on each side.

She looked even more adorable than usual.

"Took yeh long en-" Gannon stopped mid sentence as Chelsea stepped out, revealing her new look. He gaped for a moment, his eyes large. His gaze made her a little unsure about her appearance.

"Do I look okay, G?" She asked, rubbing her forearm. While he babbled rather incoherently, Eliza stepped forward and grasped her hand.

"You look amazing, Chelsea!" She said. Gannon chuckled, rubbing his neck with his massive hand.

"Yeah, yeh look beautiful." She felt her face warm up a little at his statement. He was always saying that she was pretty, so the words weren't what surprised her, but the soft tone in which he spoke them. She absolutely beamed.

"Aww, thank you." She smoothed her dress one last time. "Well, shall we?" She placed her hand in the crook of Gannon's elbow and used the remaining one to hold Eliza's. The three of them set off towards the field where festivals were normally held.

"Ohh, I'm so excited," Eliza squealed. "I've never been to a fancy party before!" She jerked Chelsea's hand as she attempted to start running. The woman chuckled, pulling her back.

"Woah there, you have to remember that your father and I are old. Its harder for us to keep up." Gannon snorted.

"Speak for yerself, I'm in my prime." He said, tugging playfully at one of her curls. Chelsea pouted.

"You're so mean. I'm waiting for the day you send me off to one of those elderly care centers."

"Don't worry, as long as you can cook I'll keep yeh around."

"Wow, thanks G." Eliza looked from Chelsea to her father and back and tutted.

"You guys are silly. Chelsea, you aren't even old and daddy would never send you away, jeez," she said seriously, the loose curls bouncing as she shook her head. Gannon rolled his eyes as he picked up his daughter and sat her on his shoulder.

"Daddy!" She squealed, placing one of her tiny hands on top of his head to steady herself.


End file.
